Teamwork Required
by Topazicatzbeth
Summary: The team are up against a new drug ring that has taken over the streets of Oahu.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: This is my attempts at a Danny/Chin story. Hope you enjoy. **

**Thanks to wenwalke for her excellent skills at correcting all my mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: No copy right infringement intended. Just having some fun. **

**Chapter One**

Danny smiled to himself as he felt the power of the Camaro beneath him. For once he was getting to drive his own car to a potential crime scene. The team had been working hard to bring down a drug ring. The streets of Hawaii had been flooded with a particularly strong form of cannabis that had caused many users to hallucinate, and there had been several incidences of people getting hurt. One man had even died after he thought he had wings and tried to fly off the top of his apartment building. The team had managed to take down several of the low level drug dealers. However they hadn't managed to find out where the drugs were coming from, and who was supplying them.

Chin had been following up intelligence from one of his CI's, while the rest of the team returned to the office. They'd found a message on their office phone, from an anonymous source, claiming they had been out hiking and stumbled across a field of plants that looked out of place.

The team all thought it unlikely to be the drugs they were looking for as it was too close to a popular hiking trail. Danny had volunteered to meet Chin up at the trail to check it out, as Chin was already close to the site. The others had all been surprised the Jersey native had volunteered, and that he had quickly changed into jeans, T-shirt and hiking boots. Danny wasn't known for his love of the outdoors, but Steve knew Danny was still dealing with the death of his brother, Matt, and his own actions in Columbia, and thought some time out in the open, with Chin, might do his best friend some good.

Danny was enjoying the drive to meet Chin. He had left the city behind and was making the most of the open road that wound its way up to the summit of the trail. Either side of the road was nothing but Hawaiian rain forest, the trees hundreds of years old. The sun was high in the sky, signalling the approach of midday, and Danny was grateful for the air conditioning in the car. But he was well aware that he would soon be leaving that luxury behind and heading down the trail with Chin on what was most likely a wild goose chase.

He knew the others had been surprised that he had volunteered to head into the rainforest. It wasn't that he didn't like the outdoors, in fact he enjoyed most of the times Steve had dragged him down some obscure trail, or having to cut down forest in Cambodia, he just didn't like the fact that they always seemed to get into trouble whilst doing it. At least this time he would be with Chin, as Steve 'trouble magnet' McGarrett had stayed behind to canvas the streets with the rest of the team. He was hoping a good trek in the forest would get him out of his head for a bit, and he could ignore the constant feelings of regrets he had from killing Reyes in cold blood. No matter how many times he told himself he had done the right thing to protect Grace and the rest of his family, because he knew Reyes wouldn't have let the matter drop with the return of the money. He was still struggling with how it had changed him. He had always prided himself on being a good cop, never going too far over the line, but that day he had gone so far over he wasn't sure he deserved to find his way back.

Finally reaching the car park he saw Chin sat on a log, his bike parked to the side, and steered the Camaro over to join him.

"What took you so long, Haole?" Chin said rising to his feet and smiling to greet Danny.

"Hey, you had a head start. You get anything from your CI?" Danny asked while grabbing a backpack from the trunk, filled with supplies for their trek.

"He said he had heard there was a new ring in town, didn't know any names. But he said that they meant business as they have already scared off most of the other dealers on the street."

"Great and here was me hoping they would be too baked to put up a fight." Danny joked.

"So do you think we're about to get lucky?" Chin asked as they headed off down the trail.

"I doubt it. These guys are too smart to grow their crop up here so close to the trail. Knowing my luck, it will be a field of pineapples. But we have to check it out, right?"

Chin just laughed and followed after his friend.

The two trekked for an hour to the point where the lead had said they'd seen the field. Both men were hot and sweaty, and had finally decided that they were right and this was a false lead, there was no sign of any fields or illegal grows.

"Come on, let's head back." Danny said passing Chin a bottle of water. "There is nothing here and none of the hikers we have passed have seen anything either."

"Do you think it was kids playing a prank, or the real dealers trying to throw us off their trail?" Chin asked.

"When we get back, maybe you can do your thing and try and track the call."

"Yeah, and if it turns out to be kids, I may have to give them a good talking to." Chin replied with an evil grin that Danny knew meant, scare the crap out of them.

Danny smiled then sighed and started to head back to the trail head.

"That was a big sigh, brah, you ok?" Chin asked. He had been aware Danny had been quieter than normal the whole trek. He also knew Danny was struggling with what happened in Columbia, although he didn't know all the details. All Steve had told them was that Matt had already been dead, and he and Danny had to fight their way out, and Danny had killed Reyes.

"What? Yeah I'm fine. We haven't been hiking that long."

"I know that, it's just you seem to have a lot on your mind. You know you can talk to us don't you?"

Danny stopped and turned to face Chin, causing him to have to abruptly stop.

"I know, thanks man. I just ... I just have a whole world of guilt I'm working my way through." Danny explained.

"Guilty? Danny, Matt was dead before you got there. You did everything you could to save him. He got himself into trouble. You're not to blame."

"You know, I'm actually starting to accept that. Steve and I have talked about it, and I know you're both right. There is no point thinking about the what ifs. What if I had shot him and stopped him leaving? For all I know Reyes would have just had Matt killed in jail. I'm actually making my peace with that bit."

"Ok, so what do you have to feel guilty about?" Chin asked confused.

Danny looked down at his feet, he wasn't sure he was ready to go there just yet, to openly voice his issues. He hadn't even discussed them with Steve, who had witnessed Danny's darker side that day, and the two of them hadn't spoken a word about it since. Steve, the good friend that he was, had just accepted that Danny did what he had to do.

"It's fine if you don't want to talk about it, it's just I can see something is eating you alive." Chin replied not wanting to push his friend, and he started to walk back up the trail.

"I killed Reyes." Danny blurted out, "I crossed the line."

Now it was Chin's turn to stop and turn around, "they were gonna kill you, Danny."

"No. We had taken out his goons and I went after Reyes. He killed Matty and he threatened Grace." Danny paused and swallowed. "What kind of a cop am I that I killed a man, point blank? I made him look me in the eye and I ... pulled the trigger." The last words were barely above a whisper as he dropped his backpack to the ground and sat down breathing hard.

Chin quickly closed the distance between them and dropped down at Danny's side. He sat close to his friend, their shoulders touching in an attempt to ground Danny who was obviously struggling to hold his emotions back. "I understand what you did, why you did it. It doesn't make you a bad cop. In that second you weren't a cop. You were a grieving brother, and a protective father."

"But the way I did it..." Danny said starting to play with a blade of grass by his side.

"When I went after Delano, he was down. He didn't have a gun. He taunted me that I wouldn't shoot an unarmed man."

"He was wrong?" Danny asked finally looking up and making eye contact with Chin. They had all read Chin's report that stated he had killed Delano in a shoot out, and no one had questioned the details of what went down.

"He was wrong." Chin confirmed. "I thought about handing my badge in." He admitted, "but then I realised, the world was a better place without him, and he forced me to cross the line. He had already gone after Malia and Kono while in jail. I wasn't prepared to risk him going after my family again."

Danny let out a big sigh then gave Chin a small smile, "thanks man."

"You're a good man Danny, the fact that you're struggling with this proves that. Don't let it eat you up any more."

"I'll try." Danny promised rising to his feet. He actually felt better now he had voiced his issues, and knowing Chin could relate made him feel relieved. "Ok, let's head back. Steve will be wanting an update, and we still need to get these drugs off the street."

"Sure." Chin replied pushing off the ground and walking alongside his friend who now didn't seem quite so weighed down by his emotional burden.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Making it back to the trail end Danny headed to the car, while Chin headed to his bike and grabbed his leather jacket. Shrugging it on he was about to swing his leg over the bike when he heard Danny shouting a string of swear words that he definitely wouldn't want Grace to hear.

"Err, everything ok?"

"No. Everything is not ok. Some jerk has slashed all of my tyres. All of them." Danny yelled, his arms waving around wildly.

Chin wandered over to the car and circled it. "They certainly did a number on them." Seeing Danny attempt to check his phone for a signal he added, "You're wasting your time. You won't get a signal all the way up here."

"I know it was a long shot." Danny sighed and rammed the phone back into his pocket. "Who the hell would do this? Do you think it was one of the hikers we passed?"

"I don't see why they would do this. I think it's more likely the same person who made the call to get us up here. They're messing with us."

"Great, it's gonna cost me a fortune to replace all four tyres, and now I'm stuck here 'till you can get down and send a tow truck for me."

"Or, you could jump on the back of my bike, and we can send a tow truck to collect the car later." Chin suggested.

"Are you serious? You want me to get on the back of that death trap?" Danny said indicating the bike, "no way. I'll stay here thanks."

"Come on. You really want to stay here all afternoon. I promise I'll take it slow. I have a cousin who can come collect the car, he'll sort the tyres for you too. I'm sure he will do you a good deal."

Danny stopped and thought about it. He really didn't want to have to wait to be picked up. He was hot and tired, and was looking forward to a cool shower. Today had been the hottest day of the year so far. "Fine," Danny conceded. "But no racing around the corners and you'll have to show me how to hold on."

"No problem brah, don't worry everything will be fine." Chin smiled as he headed back over to the bike. He watched Danny grab the backpack and put it on, before joining him at the bike.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: thanks for all the reviews. Glad you liked the Danny/Chin talk. I'd love to see something like that on the show. Now let the whump begin.**

**Chapter Two**

Chin was relieved that Danny had finally started to relax. He had spent the first half of the drive down from the trail holding on for dear life, and practically holding his breath during every bend they took. They rounded another bend, winding their way down the steep incline. To their left, there was a small drop, then yet more trees and dense forest. To their right was a cliff side, the hard rock towering above them. Smiling to him self Chin glanced in his mirror and caught the reflection of what looked like a muzzle flash coming from the top of the cliff. It was followed by a sudden jerk from behind him and a gasp from Danny.

Danny's weight started to shift to the left, and Chin had to fight to keep the bike upright, while trying to check his mirrors for signs of any further attack. He wanted to call back to ask if Danny was ok, but he didn't have time. Danny's grip had loosened, and his weight shifted further to the left. Before Chin knew what was happening his friend had slipped off the bike, and was rolling across the road. Danny dropped out of sight down the small drop to their left. By now the bike was out of control, and Chin had no choice but to fall with the bike and skid to a halt, his left leg trapped under it.

Chin flinched as another shot cracked through the air and a bullet dug into the asphalt inches from his head. Heaving the bike off his leg he dragged himself to his feet and jumped down the drop to his left, which provided protection from the shooter above.

Danny lay several feet away, so Chin scrambled to his side. The shooting had stopped now they were both out of sight, but Chin had a feeling it wouldn't stay that way for long. The shooter was probably moving in on them. Ignoring the ache in his leg he placed his hand on Danny's shoulder and gently rolled him over, "Danny, wake up, you ok brah?"

"Oh, crap." Danny moaned. "What the hell?"

"Someone shot at us. I think you were hit. Where were you hit?"

"My shoulder," Danny groaned then reached for his gun as another shot sounded above them.

"We need to move, we're sitting ducks here. The shot came from above. I think they are coming down after us. We need to move now, while we have a head start." Chin said helping Danny to his feet. He wasn't sure what injuries Danny had, but if they didn't move now, they were both dead.

Adrenaline fuelled both men's run through the trees, trying to put enough distance between themselves and their pursuer. Chin had a noticeable limp, and it was clear that Danny was in a lot of pain. It was a good thing they were moving down hill, or they wouldn't have made as good progress. It was hot, and humid, under the trees, both men were sweating hard, hearts pounding, in need of a rest and their injuries attending to.

"Danny, over there," Chin exclaimed, pointing out some old fallen trees that would provide them with cover.

Both men dropped down behind the trees, panting to catch their breath. "How far behind do you think they are?" Danny asked.

"I think we got a bit of a lead on them, they would have to come down the trail."

"How many do you think there was?" Danny asked easing his arm out of the backpack.

"Just one, I think, but he could have called in back up. How much ammo do you have?"

"What's in my gun, and one spare clip, not much," Danny replied.

"Same here," Chin sighed then ripped off his leather jacket. He had been sweating hard under its thickness, but he was grateful he had been wearing it. The arm was scraped through, as were his jeans, but they had thankfully protected him during his skid on the road, and his road rash was minimal. The same could not be said for Danny. Chin could see his t-shirt was shredded, and he had no doubt that Danny's skin would be covered in road rash much like his arms seemed to be, the skin on his forearms had been rubbed raw. Blood had run down the side of Danny's face and dried from a cut to the temple, and Chin was anxious to check out the bullet wound to his friends shoulder.

Danny rummaged in the backpack and pulled out a bottle of water, and a first aid kit. "I've one more bottle after that. How bad is your leg? I saw you limping on it."

"It's just sore brah, the bike ended up on top of it. Nothing's broken, just bruised. You're the one in bad shape. Let me check out that bullet wound."

Danny angled his body, showing Chin his left shoulder. "No exit wound, looks like the bullet hit your collar bone." Chin explained.

"Yeah, I guessed that by the pain across my back and down my arm." Danny replied then yelped as Chin peeled the remains of his t-shirt away from his side.

"Oh, Danny," Chin winced at the sight of the deep road rash along his side. "You have some pretty bad road rash here, your back is clear at least."

"Yeah the backpack probably protected it." Danny realised. "I told you that thing was a death trap."

"Hey don't blame the bike, blame the bullet in your shoulder. It was the reason we crashed."

"Shit, sorry, I shifted the weight didn't I? Danny exclaimed. "You warned me about that, to move with the bike."

"You took a bullet, I'll forgive you." Chin said placing gauze over the hole in his friends shoulder and pressing. The bleeding had already slowed during their run for safety, so Chin was soon able to stop the bleeding and cover the wound. The first aid kit was limited but it did contain some Tylenol, so Chin handed Danny two and made him drink some water.

"So, now what do we do? How long before the team realise we're missing?" Danny wondered.

"I would imagine Steve will be getting antsy for an update soon, so it shouldn't be long before they realise something has happened."

"Yeah, you're right, but we need a plan," Danny said as he watched Chin re pack the backpack.

"We have pretty good cover here." Chin said looking around. "And there are two of us. I think we should wait here, we'll have the advantage if this guy gets close."

"That sounds like a reasonable pla ..." Danny stopped and put his hand to his ear signalling for Chin to listen. He had heard the snapping of twigs not far off, and had a feeling they were about to meet their shooter again real soon.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Shouldn't Danny and Chin be back by now?" Steve asked pacing the main office.

"Relax, McGarrett, they're probably just taking in the scenery." Lou replied.

"I don't know. I've just had this real uneasy feeling for the past twenty minutes." Steve replied. "I've tried both their cells but it goes straight to voicemail."

"Boss, you know there won't be any cell reception up there." Kono said trying to calm Steve.

"Damn, I should have made him take a sat phone." Steve cursed himself.

"I'm sure they will be back soon. Williams will be moaning about the major waste of time it was, and how hot it was out there on this god forsaken rock." Lou replied.

Steve couldn't help but smile at Lou's impression of Danny, but the feeling in his stomach wouldn't go away. "You know what, I'm not doing anything here, I'm gonna head up there. If you hear from them contact me on the sat phone." Steve said grabbing a phone and then raiding the supply cupboard for ammo clips, and several other supplied he thought he might need.

Once he had left Lou looked over to Kono who was looking nervous. "Do you think they're in trouble?"

"I would have thought they'd be back by now, or at least checked in."

"Oh, hell," Lou sighed, "fine, I'll follow after him. You ok to handle things here."

"Sure, just keep me updated." Kono replied handing him a sat phone and yet another supply bag.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

By the time Lou made it to the car park Steve was long gone, and it wasn't until he was halfway up the trail that he caught up with Steve in the Silverado. It was pulled to the side of the road and as he pulled in behind it, Steve turned around revealing Chin's bike lying on its side.

"Shit." Lou exclaimed.

"I was right, Lou. Something's happened to them. Chin wouldn't just leave his bike like this."

"Any sign of the Camaro?"

"No. Maybe it's further up." Steve suggested.

"Or maybe Chin got into some trouble on the bike, and Danny took him to the hospital."

"No, Danny would have called it in. Can you drive up to the summit? Check it out? I'm gonna look around here."

"Sure." Lou replied and pulled his truck back onto the road.

Steve walked around the bike and examined it. The paintwork was scratched, indicating the bike had slid across the road. Maybe Lou was right, maybe Chin had had an accident and Danny hadn't had the time to call them. Seconds later that thought was forgotten, when he found a bullet in the ground near the bike.

Steve pulled out his sat phone while starting to survey the scene further. He didn't get time to dial before it rang.

"Steve, Danny's car is at the top of the trail, but all the tyres are slashed. No sign of him." Lou said before Steve had chance to say anything.

"I've got a bullet in the ground by the bike." Steve replied stopping at the edge of the road and finding more, "shit I just found more."

"There's nothing up here, just the car." Lou replied. "So where are they?"

"I think they went into the forest." Steve replied seeing the trail that anyone but an experienced tracker would have missed.

"Together? You think Danny was on the bike too? You really think Danny would have got on the bike? Doesn't he hate those things?" Lou questioned.

"Normally no way, you're right, Danny hates bikes, but if his car was out of action and it was that or being stuck up there. Chin can be persuasive. I've got tracks here of three different people."

"Ok, what do you want to do?" Lou asked now very concerned for his teammates.

"Come back down to me. I think they were ambushed here. We're gonna go after them. I'll call Kono and get her to send backup to us."

"Why would someone ambush them?" Lou asked already back in his truck and making his way down the trail.

"Perhaps to send a warning to us, scare us off. They obviously lured them up here then tried to take them out."

"Now why would they want to do that? We have nothing. We are no where near close to catching these guys. Why risk giving us any clues?" Lou asked confused.

"Maybe we're closer than we thought." Steve replied, "what if one of the guys we have in custody is more than just a basic drug dealer? Or maybe they are related to someone higher up in the operation."

"So they think if they take out some of 5-0 it will send a message to back off."

"It's a possible theory. I'll get Kono to look into it. She needs to run detailed background checks on all the guys we arrested. Right now we need to find Danny and Chin, you almost here?"

"Two minutes out." Lou replied then hung up so Steve could ring Kono.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: I can't see Danny getting back on a bike ever again. **

**Chapter Three**

"Come out come out, where ever you are." The man called as he made his way closer to where Danny and Chin hid. The fallen trees were providing them good cover, but if the guy came further down hill their cover would be blown. Both injured, or not, they were going to have to take this guy on. "You might as well give up now. I promise I'll make it quick. I got three more buddies on the way. We will find you, and they won't be so nice. They were busy, with the grow, and aren't happy to have to leave it."

Chin nodded to Danny, signalling he was ready, and both drew their guns. Danny gingerly moved on to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut as his side burned with pain. His left arm stayed clamped to his side to try and avoid moving it. "5-0 put your weapon down now." Danny yelled out and the man started to laugh.

"That's not gonna happen." And he fired off several shots in their direction, Danny's voice giving away their location. He started to walk closer to their hiding place, using the trees as cover. Danny nodded again to Chin who silently moved off to the side, trying to get a better view of their hunter.

"This is your last warning, put down the gun." Danny yelled raising his head a little to try and see the guy His blond locks giving him away, he ducked back down again as a bullet sailed over his head.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be the best, giving away your position, not smart man." The guy yelled back. Danny had managed to get a glimpse of the guy and his weapon. He whispered the details to Chin, who gave a thumbs up.

"We are the best. The rest of the team will be here soon. Now put down the gun." Danny yelled once again popping up above the trunk of the tree.

"I told you, not gonna happen." The guy yelled back raising his riffle and taking aim at Danny once again. A familiar crack of gunfire filled the air.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Steve." Lou yelled as he pulled his truck over at the side of Chin's bike, but couldn't see his boss anywhere.

"Down here." Came the reply, and Lou immediately headed over to the small drop at the side of the road. Judging the distance, he jumped down to join Steve who was crouched down looking at the ground. "Kono is sending backup our way. She wanted to come, herself, but I managed to persuade her to stay and look into the backgrounds of everyone we arrested. We need to know who is behind this."

"Bet that took some persuading." Lou replied. Knowing that Kono would be concerned about both their teammates, but if her cousin's life was on the line she was usually the first one in through the door.n

"Let's just say, if we don't get Chin back safely, I'm going back into the Navy. The list of things I'm scared of isn't that long, but an angry Kono Kalakaua is very high up on that list."

Lou gave a small laugh then asked, "What you looking at down here?" realising Steve had been examining something when he arrived.

Steve's face fell. "I've got blood here. One of them is definitely hurt."

"Could be the shooters?" Lou said trying to be optimistic.

"Not here. I think they took shelter before heading into the forest. Look there are more bullets up there. I think someone fired down at them from up top." Steve explained pointing up at the rocky ledge higher up.

"Ok, it's not too much blood though. Hopefully they're not hurt too bad." Lou turned and looked into the forest. "So they were followed into the forest. You said you saw three tracks."

Steve stood and walked away a few feet. "Yeah there are three distinct tracks here."

Lou looked over at the leaves on the ground. "Three tracks, you get that from all these leaves." He asked sceptically.

"Yeah, one of them is limping. You see the drag marks here." Steve pointed out.

"Oh yeah, sure," Lou said rolling his eyes. Honestly it just looked like any other part of the forest floor to him, but he trusted Steve knew what he was doing.

"We got bigger problems though." Steve said walking another few feet away. "We have tracks of three more people over here."

"Backup?"

"Yeah, I think so. So there are four guys after our boys and we know at least one of them is hurt." Steve sighed.

"I wonder how much of a lead they have on us?"

"These tracks are fairly fresh, maybe half hour or so." Steve explained.

"Now how in the world could you know that?" Lou asked amazed.

"From the dampness of the soil here, in this heat it would have dried out fast once the leaves were disturbed. It's still damp." Steve said, holding up mud stained fingers.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go get our boys." Lou said pulling the tabs on his vest tight and checking his gun.

Steve was about to follow when his phone rang. "Talk to me Kono."

"Steve, I've got HPD support on the way to your position, they are about half an hour out. I also have a Medivac on stand by in case you need it."

"Ok, good work Kono. Lou and I are about to head into the rainforest after them. We'll keep you updated. From what I can tell we have four guys in pursuit of Danny and Chin. Run the backgrounds Kono. Find out who is behind this."

"I'm on it Boss. I'll find our guy, don't worry. You two just find Chin and Danny. Bring them home safe."

"Will do," Steve replied then hung up and switched the phone to vibrate and indicated Lou should do the same with his.

"Ok, we follow the trail but we need to move quietly, I don't want them to know we're coming." Steve said before heading into the forest.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: thanks for the reviews. The boys have a bit more whump coming their way before they are rescued. **

**And yes mid chapter cliffies seem to be a reoccurring thing in this story. He he.**

**Chapter Four**

"This is a pretty nice rifle." Chin called out to Danny who was emerging from behind the trees, his posture bent over and his right hand, gun still in place, was supporting his left.

"Really, my shoulder's not a fan." Danny said walking over to join Chin by the body of the man that shot him. Chin had been right on his mark. As Danny distracted the man, Chin had moved to a better position and taken him out, before he could take out Danny. Their plan had worked perfectly.

Chin started to search the man, and pulled out a phone.

"He didn't call for back up, right? I mean we have no reception so he won't have any either." Danny asked.

"He can with this phone. It's a satellite phone, and there's a call logged thirty minutes ago." Chin said turning the screen to face Danny.

"Great, but at least we have a phone that we can use now." Danny sighed, thinking they could call the team for backup.

"Afraid not, brah," Chin said apologetically.

"What? What do you mean?" Danny asked doing his best to mask the pain he was in.

"When I shot the guy, I took out the aerial. I'm sorry, brah, the phones useless."

"Shit." Danny cursed. "So we take out one guy but now we have three more pissed off guys on our trail."

"On a positive side we have a rifle now." Chin smiled.

"Oh yeah that's great, I feel sooo much better." Danny replied sarcastically then looked up hill through the trees, looking for any signs of movement that might signal that the man's backup might have arrived.

"You ok, brah?" Chin asked, concerned about Danny's posture.

"I think we need to get moving, Chin. If we keep heading down we should find the highway, right?"

"Yeah, we should. Are you sure you're up to it though?"

"Yeah, I'm just sore as hell, nothing life threatening." Danny said walking back around the trees and grabbing the backpack.

"Here, I'll take that." Chin said grabbing the bag from Danny and throwing it over his shoulder. He didn't want Danny to be burdened. While his injuries might not be life threatening now, Chin was well aware that infection would be a big worry, and the sooner they got out of there the better.

The two men walked for an hour, both noticeably tiring. Sweat stained the back of both their t-shirts as the temperature rose. Chin's limp had become more defined as the constant walking on his bruised leg caused it to swell. Danny was doing his best to hide the pain, but the heat was drying out his wounds from the road rash causing them to sting further. The whole of his left side, and both forearms, felt like a thousand tiny needled were being pushed into his skin, and the whole of his body ached, reminding him that he had fallen off a speeding bike.

Finally both men came to a stand still. "Shit. What do we do now?" Danny asked looking at the 50ft drop directly below them. Their path had been halted as the incline suddenly dropped off.

Chin sighed, "I think we have to climb down."

"Are you kidding me? I can't climb down. You can't climb down. Don't think I haven't noticed how much worse your limp has gotten."

"We don't have a choice, Danny. This cliff goes on as far as I can see either way. I don't think we have time to find a better way down. I can see a way we can climb down, and yes my leg is sore, but it can bear weight, I'll help you down."

Both men looked behind them as the noise of a flock of birds taking to the sky further up the hill startled them.

"Fine," Danny sighed. "You're right. I don't think we have a choice. I think his backup might be on to us. Just show me where to climb."

The two worked in tandem to gradually make their way down the cliff face. Chin pointing out where Danny needed to step. They had made it halfway down when Danny paused to catch his breath. Chin a few feet up above, saw Danny pause, and hurried to join his friend. Moving his foot to a lower ledge he shifted his weight onto his bad leg, and was hit by a wave of cramp. He reached up to take a better hold of the rock face, to relieve the weight from his leg, when the rock he had taken hold of gave way, causing him to lose his footing and fall.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

"Lou, look." Steve whispered and pointed ahead of them. Lying on the forest floor was an obvious body. Making sure the area was clear they hurried over.

"Guess we are down one bad guy." Lou smiled.

"Size of the bullet matches Chin's gun." Steve smiled. "But they still have three men on their trail."

Lou looked through the man's pockets and pulled out an I.D. I'm gonna ring this through to Kono. It might help her narrow down our suspect pool."

Steve nodded then started to look over the scene.

"Lou, do you have them?" Kono asked as soon as she picked up the phone.

"Not yet, Kono, but we're closing in on them. We found our original shooter. Looks like Chin took him out, but Steve thinks there are three more out here."

"Well done cuz." Kono smiled. "HPD just arrived on scene."

"Ok, I'll send you the co-ordinates of our DB. Have HPD take care of him."

"Will do," Kono replied.

"I have a name for you. Our boy here is one Emilio Gust. Hope that can help you narrow our suspects down?"

"Actually it does." Kono replied, immediately tapping away and bringing up a file. "I've already ruled out three of the guys we brought in. They're well known street dealers. But there is one guy, a Julio Gust. That can't be a coincidence. I'll start looking into him straight away."

"Ok, we'll check in with you soon, I think Steve has something. Sending you co-ordinates now," Lou said, hanging up the phone then checking his GPS he quickly text the co-ordinates and headed over to where Steve had disappeared behind some fallen trees.

"I found Chin's jacket." Steve announced as soon as he sensed Lou closing in. He turned and stood, holding the jacket out to show the damage to it.

"Damn." Lou said, his eyes widening. "Lucky he was wearing that thing. The road would have torn him up."

"Yeah," Steve whispered then bent back down to examine the bloody gauze also left behind.

"Shit." Lou said realising his mistake. "Danny was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans."

"Yeah, I'm betting it's his blood. We need to find them, Lou. If Danny does have road rash, he's gonna be hurting like hell, and moving slower. Not to mention we don't know what injuries they both have from the bike crash."

"Ok, lead the way and let's speed things up. HPD are on their way down." Lou said stepping out of Steve's way and watched his boss head out with a renewed fire in his eyes.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: posting early so jazzie doesn't have to wait til after work. **

**Chapter Five**

"Arrrghhh," Danny screamed out in pain as he reached out and grabbed hold of Chin's wrist with his left hand. His right hand gripping the rock so hard it sliced into his fingers, leaving the rock slick with blood. The jolt of Chin's fall being brought to an abrupt halt sent waves of pain up his arm, and there was a crack as Danny's damaged collar bone snapped in two. Danny felt the bones shift out of place.

Holding Chin's full weight caused electric shocks to run up Danny's arm and across his back. He did his best to pant through it, trying to stop the world from spinning and dial back the buzzing in his ears. If he passed out now they were both dead. Finally the fog started to lift and his hearing started to come back to him, allowing him to hear what Chin was shouting at him.

"Danny. It's ok. Just let go. You can't hold us both. It's ok, brah."

"If I let go, that fall could kill you." Danny ground out through gritted teeth.

"It's ok brah, I'll take that chance. If you don't, we'll both fall, Grace needs her dad, Danny. Don't do this. Let go."

"No." Danny yelled then prised his eyes open. Looking down he saw a small ledge just to Chin's right.

It took everything he had in him to ignore the fire and move his arm, allowing him to swing Chin just enough for him to get a footing on the ledge. "You secure?" Danny asked clamping his eyes closed again.

"Yeah, brah, I got it." Chin yelled back.

"Really, 'Cos if I let you go, and you fall, so help me, Chin Ho Kelly, I will bring you back to life just so I can kill you myself."

"I promise, brah, I have a good footing and my hand jammed in a crack. You can let go."

"Oh, thank god." Danny cried as he released his grip, and almost hypo ventilated with the pain he was experiencing.

"Danny. Just stay put. I'm coming over, ok?" Chin yelled but Danny couldn't respond. Once again he was fighting to keep the black dots at bay and he felt his grip start to loosen.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Kono entered the holding cell at Halawa and eyed up Julio Gust. The man's hair was slicked back into a long pony tail, and Kono immediately noticed the manicured nails. Not your typical street dealer.

"Julio." She smiled. "How's prison treating you?"

"Its fine, I'll be out soon anyway, my lawyer is working on getting the charges dismissed. The case will never make it to court." He replied smugly.

"Really? You were caught red handed with 2lbs of cannabis." Kono laughed.

"Which the man next to me dropped, I was merely picking it up for him. I didn't know what it was. My family have got me the best defence lawyer on the island."

"Your family, would that be your cousin Emilio by chance? Because I wouldn't count on him for anymore help. He won't be making it to the next family reunion." Julio shifted in his seat. "I looked into your family. Your father owns a warehouse. What business is he in again?"

"Distribution," Julio replied. "What have you done with Emilio?"

"Distribution of what?" Kono probed.

"Crops, you know, pineapples, mangos, that kind of thing."

"That kind of thing? That kind of thing, like cannabis? Of the home grown variety?"

"That's stupid. No. You can check his books." Julio replied trying to look calm.

"The thing is books can be faked. But all that distribution, that required deliveries, trucks and vans to move the products. I checked the traffic cams and there haven't been any deliveries to the warehouse for over a week."

Julio didn't say anything so Kono continued. "I also checked the employment logs. Your father let all non family staff go, over three months ago."

"Business is slow, we had to make cuts." Julio shrugged.

"And yet you still have the money to get expensive manicures, buy new cars. I'd have gone for the metallic blue option if I was you, but still racing car green can be classy."

"That doesn't mean anything." Julio spat unnerved but the amount of information Kono had.

"Really, well it will be enough to get me a warrant to search the warehouse. I'm just waiting on the judge, and SWAT, before I go raid it. You know I really must thank your family."

"What? Thank us, why? Where's Emilio?" Julio asked, fear obvious in his eyes.

"You see we had no idea who was behind these drugs. We thought you were just another low life dealer. But then your family went after my team, set them up and ambushed them."

"I don't know anything about that." Julio yelled.

"Well your family underestimated my team. You want to know what happened to Emilio? He's dead." Kono informed him and watched his face fall. "That's how we linked it back to you and your father. And whoever else is out in that forest will end up that way too if they don't hand themselves in. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with your father."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Steve and Lou had made good progress through the forest, and Steve was certain they were closing the gap between themselves, and the three people chasing after the rest of their team. A vibrating in his pocket signalled a phone call and he quickly pulled it out and answered, keeping his voice low in case they were closer that they thought.

"Please tell me you have found them." Kono begged.

"Not yet Kono, but we're closing in. You get anything?"

"Oh yeah, I got something. I'm currently stood in a warehouse containing hundreds of cannabis plants."

"You found the grow?" Steve asked relieved that at least something positive had come from all this.

"Oh yeah. The guy you found out there, we arrested his cousin. The family own a distribution company. I checked it out, got a warrant, and HPD helped me take them down. Now I spoke with the most senior of the Gust family, and after a little persuasion, I found out that you were right. Two of his sons and his other nephew went to help Emilio."

"That's great work, Kono." Steve praised allowing himself to smile a little at the thought of how Kono had 'persuaded' Mr Gust.

"Did you hear that?" Lou asked as the sound of a man's scream reached their ears. It was off in the distance but reinforced Steve's theory that they were getting closer.

"Yeah, I did. Kono, we've got to go. Good work." Steve said hanging up and stashing his phone away. "Let's move." Steve ordered and started to jog down hill.

**TBC**

**oh dear. I did it again, another cliff cliffie.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: Thanks for the reviews, even if you do all hate me for the cliff hangers. **

**Now let's get Steve and Lou there to rescue the boys **

**Chapter Six**

Danny wasn't sure how he made it down the rest of the cliff, but he knew it was mainly thanks to Chin, who had made it to him just in the nick of time, and was able to anchor him to the cliff face until his vision cleared. He had followed each of Chin's instructions, and coaching, and finally they made it to the forest floor, where Chin lowered Danny to the ground.

"Shit, Danny. What were you thinking? You should have let me go. You have Grace to think about."

"The hell I should, how am I supposed to look Grace in the eye and let her know I didn't do everything in my power to help you? Besides, Kono would have kicked my ass." Danny added with one of his nervous giggles.

Opening his eyes he saw Chin hovering above him, looking extremely anxious, he was in the process of removing the back pack from his back.

"We need to get moving." Danny said attempting to sit up but Chin pushed him back down. "I'm sorry I screamed out, I'll have given away our position. We need to get moving and find cover."

"We're not going anywhere until I've secured your arm and stopped the bleeding." Chin said pulling out the last of the gauze from the first aid kit.

"Stopped the bleeding?" Danny asked confused as he turned his head to his shoulder and suddenly realised why Chin looked so anxious. He had felt the bone snap as he grabbed hold of Chin. What he didn't realise was that Chin's weight had pulled the bones apart, and when he had let go it had allowed the bones to shift, and now Danny was staring at his own bone poking through his skin. "Oh crap." He groaned.

"You can say that again." Chin said placing the gauze over the wound. He helped Danny to sit up, so he could use a bandage to secure Danny's arm to his body. Once he was satisfied that there wouldn't be too much movement he helped Danny to his feet.

"Thanks." Danny said between pants.

"No. Thank you Danny, for not letting me fall."

"You're welcome, now let's move." Danny suggested and the two started once again down hill. But they hadn't made it more than a few feet before gunfire erupted, and Danny fell to the ground after a bullet ripped through his right thigh. Rolling onto his back and pulling his gun, Danny fired back up at the cliff, hitting the man that stood up there firing at them. His shot caused the man to stagger forward, and plunge to his death.

Chin grabbed Danny and pulled him behind a tree to provide some cover. "I am seriously getting fed up with being used for target practice." Danny yelled.

"I hear you, brah. Let me take a look at your leg." Chin replied, but as he moved closer, more shots rained down on them, and he grunted as suddenly a bullet tore through his left arm. He recovered quickly and grabbed the rifle and ran to a near by tree to provide himself with better cover. Both he and Danny started to shoot back. The two remaining men had dropped to their stomachs, keeping their profile low. From their higher position they had the advantage, and Chin and Danny were pinned down

"Chin. I'm out of ammo." Danny yelled, dropping his gun to the ground and clutching at his bleeding leg.

"Almost out, myself," Chin replied throwing away the rifle and pulling out his own gun.

"Ok. Give me the gun." Danny said holding his good hand out for it. If I draw their fire you can make a run for it. We can't be that far away from the highway now."

"What, go without you? No way."

"Chin. I'm done. I can't go any further with a bum leg and shoulder. But I can draw them off long enough for you to escape."

"No way, Danny, you wouldn't let me fall. I have to be able to look Grace in the eye and tell her I did everything within my power to get you back to her." Chin shouted as another bullet forced its way into the bark of the tree he was hiding behind.

As suddenly as the shots started, they stopped. Both men looked at each other unsure what to do next. "Maybe they ran out of ammo" Chin suggested.

"Or maybe they're climbing down to finish us off." Danny said resting his head against the tree. Chin could see that his shoulder had begun to bleed heavily again from the fall. And while the wound to his friends leg looked to be a through and through, it was also bleeding heavily just like his own arm was.

"Danny! Chin!" The familiar voice of their friend broke through the silence.

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

Steve and Lou had moved quickly down hill, heading in the direction they had heard the scream. Steve was sure it sounded like Danny, and he just hoped when he caught up to them his friends would still be alive. Lou was doing well keeping up with him, the man wasn't in as good physical shape as Steve, too many good home cooked meals evident around his mid drift, but he was fuelled by adrenaline, and when gun fire erupted both men kicked it up a gear.

The trees narrowed out a little allowing them to see two men laid on their stomachs, peppering the ground below them with bullets. Signalling for Lou to take the guy on the right, Steve headed for the man on the left. Moving stealthily they snuck up behind them.

"5-0. Put your weapons down now." Steve yelled.

"Don't even think about it boy, or I'll put a bullet in the back of your head." Lou added when he saw his guy about to turn his gun on Steve.

Both men realised they had no choice, so threw their guns to one side. Both Steve and Lou immediately moved in and cuffed them. Then Steve took a chance and moved closer to the edge. He needed to know his friends were ok.

"Danny! Chin!" He yelled and listened for a reply.

**TBC**

**Finally the boys are rescued, but couldn't resist a bit more whump first. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: ok now it's time to get our boys the help they need.**

**Chapter Seven**

"Steve." Chin yelled back, "Are we glad to see you."

"Chin we have two guys up here. There was a third." Steve yelled back.

"Danny took him out. Steve we need help down here. Danny's beat up pretty bad."

"I got these two. Go." Lou ordered Steve. "I'll call it in."

Steve didn't need telling twice. He immediately grabbed a rope out of his bag and secured it to a near by tree, then attached his climbing equipment he expertly abseiled down the cliff in a matter of seconds. Glancing to his left he saw the third shooter, his body broken and battered. Knowing he wasn't a threat he detached himself from the rope and ran in the direction of Chin's voice.

"Great timing, brah." Chin said moving to greet Steve.

"You ok?" Steve asked seeing Chin limping and blood running down his arm.

"I'll live, but Danny's in bad shape." Chin explained leading Steve to where Danny was propped up against a tree.

Steve dropped down beside his best friend, and took in the sight before him. Danny was deathly pale and lines of pain were etched across his face. The whole of his left side was covered in blood, dried and fresh. Chin's make shift dressing had been dislodged in the fall, and the bone was exposed once more. Steve didn't want to even imagine how sore his partner's skin was underneath his shredded t-shirt. The hole in his right thigh was sluggishly bleeding.

Danny turned his head to face Steve and opened his eyes, "hey partner, about time you joined the party."

"Shit, Danny." Steve gasped.

"That bed, eh?" Danny asked, surprised to see his friend looking rattled.

"Well you've certainly looked better. Let's get a look at you. Chin, here pack that arm wound." Steve ordered passing his Lieutenant some gauze. "There's water in the bag too."

Steve worked quickly to assess Danny and place a pressure bandage around his thigh. Then he moved on to Danny's shoulder. His first aid kit was more extensive and contained ampoules of saline, so he used some to attempt to flush the mud away from the wound. Danny flinched as the salt water hit the wound then groaned at the renewed pain it sent down his arm and across his back.

"Sorry, buddy," Steve sympathised. "Chin's right, you're a mess."

"Damn man, you can say that again." Lou said joining them.

"Lou, you're supposed to be watching the guys we just arrested." Steve said, surprised to see Lou join them.

"Don't worry, they aren't going anywhere. They're busy tree hugging." Lou said with a devious smile. "Thought you'd appreciate a picture?" Then he flashed a picture on his phone of the two men handcuffed together around a tree.

"Very nice," Steve nodded, "where are we on the Medivac?"

"It's en route, but the forest is too dense. They're landing on the highway and are gonna have to walk in to us. HPD are continuing down here to take care of our guys up above."

"How long they gonna be?"

"At least an hour." Lou replied sadly, he could see that Danny desperately needed medical help.

Danny groaned and rested his head back against the tree. He didn't like hospitals, but right now a comfy bed and a drip full of painkillers sounded great.

"You sure those guys are secured?" Steve asked indicating the tree hugging pair.

"Did you not see the picture? They're not going no where." Lou smiled.

"Chin, can you walk?"

"Yeah, my legs just bruised. I can walk." Chin confirmed seeing what Steve had planned. He was well aware that Steve wanted to get Danny to a hospital as soon as possible. He hadn't missed the heat that had started to roll off of Danny.

"Lou, help me out here. We'll carry him to meet up with the rescue crew."

"Normally I would protest strongly to being carried, but I'm gonna let it go this time." Danny said his head falling forward. "What the hell are we waiting for my trusty steeds?"

"Wise decision Danny." Lou said moving round to Danny's right side and ducking under his arm.

Steve had the more awkward task of supporting Danny as he wasn't able to use a shoulder carry, but he somehow made it work, and the two of them hoisted Danny up, who did his best not to scream out in pain.

Slowly they set off moving, taking the trail carefully, and trying to avoid anything that might jolt Danny's shoulder. Danny couldn't help but let out the occasional whimper. After 10 minutes Steve became concerned. He could feel every tremor of his friend's body. Holding Danny close, his head resting against his chest, he could feel his temperature rising and the roughness of his grated skin. Then he realised that Danny had been quiet for the last minute or so. "How you doing, Danno?" Receiving no answer, and not being able to see Danny's face from the angle he was holding his best friend, he tried again. "Danny, you with us?"

Chin immediately turned around, "I think he's out, Steve."

"Shit, ok let's at least use this to our advantage, while he's out he isn't in pain. Let's speed it up without worrying about jarring him."

Lou immediately picked up his pace, "how the hell did you two make it this far down with him in this state?"

"He wasn't this bad to start off. He took a bullet to the shoulder which caused us to come off the bike, and he got messed up from the road. But his shoulder didn't end up like that 'til we climbed down the cliff." Chin explained. "I lost my footing and fell. Danny caught me and refused to let go. But his shoulder...I told him to let go."

"Hey, there was no way he would let go, and you know that." Steve replied as soon as he saw Chin looking guilty.

The three men fell quiet; Steve and Lou gaining a little insight into what their friends had been through. They made good progress for the next quarter of an hour, then Kono's voice cut through the forest. "Chin! Oh thank god."

The three conscious teammates looked up to see Kono racing towards them, the rest of the Medivac team not far behind her. Of course she had finished at the warehouse and headed straight over to the Medivac base, so she could be on scene when needed.

Wrapping her cousin in her arms, Kono let out a breath of relief, "are you ok?"

"Yeah," Chin replied and she turned her attention to the rest of the team. "Oh god, Danny, he doesn't look good."

"He isn't," Steve replied then yelled to the rest of the people advancing towards them. "We need a medic here, now."

The medics quickly arrived, and Steve and Lou carefully lowered Danny down into a litter. The newly arrived team wasted no time in assessing Danny, checking his vitals, and assessing his wounds.

"Guys, let's get moving." Steve ordered. "I want him at the hospital ASAP."

"Hang on. I need to start an IV first." The young medic shouted. "He's in shock, if I don't get fluids into him, and fast, he won't make it to the hospital."

"Ok do it quickly." Steve ordered. "I want to be on the move again in two minutes."

"With all due respect, sir, it will take as long as it takes. I need to stabilise him before we move off again." The medic replied and didn't every flinch when Steve scowled at him. The medic worked quickly to establish an IV and hung the fluid bag on the stand attached to the litter. He then grabbed an oxygen mask and secured it over Danny's face.

"We good to go now?" Steve asked as he saw the medic recheck his friend's vitals and smile as they had slightly improved.

"Just one more thing. Is he allergic to morphine?"

"No." Steve answered impatiently.

The medic then quickly drew up the drug and injected it into the port on the IV he had established. "He's gonna appreciate that if he regains consciousness." He explained then signalled that they were ready to go.

"Thanks." Steve smiled, grateful that someone had a clear head. In his desperation to get his friend the proper medical care he needed, he had overlooked Danny's immediate medical needs. Two more of the rescue team moved in to carry the litter, and Steve remained glued to Danny's side, the medic reflecting his position on the other.

Lou had moved over to assist Kono with Chin, who was obviously tiring now but had insisted he didn't need any immediate medical attention. With Chin supported on either side by Lou and Kono they made good progress down the hill, and finally the forest started to thin out and Steve could see the highway below them, several lanes closed to allow the chopper to land.

He looked down at Danny and was relieved to see two slits fighting their way open.

"Hey, you back with us D? We're almost at the chopper now."

"Mmmm, Chin?" Was all Danny could manage to get out. He was bone tired, and felt hot and sticky. His mind was fuzzy with what he guessed must be some good painkillers, as there was only a dull ache in his thigh and skinned side, and his shoulder, while still burning, was much more manageable. But despite the fuzz he did remember what had happened, and was concerned about his friend.

"He's fine, Danny, Lou and Kono have him." Steve reassured.

"Kono?" Danny asked confused. He knew he had been pretty out of it by the time Steve and Lou had turned up, but he was sure he hadn't missed Kono being there.

"She came with the Medivac team, didn't want to miss out on all the fun. Just hang in there, ok. We'll be at the chopper in a second."

Danny gave a small nod, his eyes slipping closed again, but Steve could sense that his friend was still awake.

Finally they reached the chopper and slid Danny's litter on board, securing it to the floor. The rest of the team climbing on board, and Steve took up the seat right by Danny's head.

The medic placed a set of headphones over Danny's ears to protect him from the loud noise of the rotor blades, and explained that they would be setting off soon.

Danny gave a small nod, acknowledging he had heard, and the medic turned to Chin. "Can I take a look at you now?"

"Sure." Chin smiled, relieved to be sitting down.

The medic moved over to Chin's side and using the scissors from his belt cut away the bandage on his arm, "through and through, looks pretty clean." Moving down to his leg he cut through the ragged jeans and expose the swollen and bruised calf, "given how you were walking on it, I doubt any things broken, but the hospital will probably do an X-Ray anyway."

The helicopter sprang into life and Danny scared them all by suddenly arching his back off the litter, despite the straps there to hold him down, and let out a scream that made all their blood run cold. Steve immediately dropped down on his knees beside his friend and grabbed hold of his wrist to prevent Danny from grabbing at his shoulder, and doing further damage.

"Shit." The medic cursed and hurried back to Danny's side. "Hold on Danny, I'm going to give you more pain relief." He explained, quickly drawing up more morphine and injecting it into Danny's drip. He then pulled out a second vial and mirrored his actions with the morphine. Seconds after this drug entered Danny's system his face relaxed and his hand went limp within Steve's grasp.

"Danny?" Steve asked concerned, and looked up at the medic for answers.

"I gave him some more morphine and a mild sedative. It should keep him comfortable until we land. His shoulder is far from stable, and the vibration from the chopper obviously just plunged him into a world of pain."

Steve carefully changed his grip so he had hold of Danny's hand, rather than his wrist, and lowered them to a more comfortable position, but refused to return to his seat.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: a big thanks to everyone who is still reading. Glad you liked the rescue.**

**Chapter Eight**

Steve followed the gurney that now carried his partner away from the helicopter. He trusted Lou and Kono to take care of Chin, and right now his place was right by his partner's side. He had let Danny go up the trail in the hopes that it would help clear his head. Now Danny was seriously injured, and Steve wasn't sure if this would be enough to tip his friend over the edge.

"We're taking him straight to theatre, Steve." Dr. Pearce explained. She had met them at the helipad after receiving the call from the helicopter pilot informing them of the condition of their incoming patients. "These wounds need cleaning out and debriding. I have the best orthopaedic surgeon waiting to fix his shoulder. Why don't you head to the waiting room?"

Steve followed his partner right to the OR doors then headed to the surgical waiting room. He wasn't sure where Chin had been taken, but was sure that the rest of the team would migrate to the waiting room once they could.

He was right. Forty minutes later, Lou joined him and filled him in that Chin was waiting on X-Rays, and Kono was keeping him company. Another hour and a half after that Chin limped into the room with a crutch to support his weight, and his arm tucked neatly into a sling.

"How you doing, man?" Steve asked standing and helping guide Chin to the sofa.

"I'm fine. X-Rays were clear, it's just bruised."

"And he needs to keep it elevated." Kono butted in, while forcing Chin to put his leg on a chair.

"The arm?" Steve questioned.

"Cleaned and stitched." Chin replied.

"Here. Drink this." Kono ordered handing her cousin a bottle of water. "They wanted to give him an IV, as he's dehydrated from running through the forest, but he refused."

"Mildly dehydrated, and the doctor agreed I could avoid it if I drank plenty of water." Chin sighed. Sometimes Kono's protectiveness could be overwhelming.

"So drink." She ordered. "Any news on Danny?"

"Not yet." Steve sighed. "I'm guessing it will be a while yet. His shoulder will probably take some time."

"It looked pretty messed up." Kono worried.

"Yeah, Dr. Pearce has the best Ortho on it," Steve filled them in. Everyone could see how concerned Steve was. In fact, they shared his concerns. Danny's pained scream still ringing in their ears.

Trying to distract them all from the worry, Kono steered the conversation to filling the guys in on what happened at the warehouse, and how she had managed to wrap up the drug case, during which she kept making sure Chin kept drinking. Once she had finished the conversation. Chin filled them in on exactly what had happened. How Danny had been hit in the shoulder and come off the bike, and how they had worked together to take out the first guy.

Kono was near to tears when Chin explained how he had told Danny to let go of him, but Danny had point blank refused. She made a mental note to thank Danny personally, and make sure she was with him 100% through the physical therapy that he was bound to need.

Finally, after several hours, one of which Chin had spent napping Dr. Pearce arrived to join the team. "Chin, how are you feeling?" She asked as she sat down.

"Sore and tired, but fine, thanks. How's Danny?"

"Holding his own." She informed them. "The wound to his leg wasn't too bad. It's been cleaned and stitched and will be fine, although I don't doubt it will be sore for some time. The road rash has also been cleaned, there are a few areas to his side and forearms that were deeper than the rest and may leave small scars. They will require frequent dressings for the next few days."

"What about his shoulder? That was the worst, right?" Steve asked, concern written all over his face. Worries of infection and sepsis, and Danny's shoulder being too bad to repair had been running through his mind the whole time Danny had been in surgery. What if Danny was too weak to fight the infection? What if Danny couldn't regain full use of his shoulder? It could ruin his career.

"That was our main concern. The wound, unfortunately, contained mud and debris from the forest so we had to make sure it was cleaned and debrided properly. Dr. Parks, our best orthopaedic surgeon, was able to retrieve the bullet." She explained pulling out a sample pot containing the small metal object, "I presume you will need that for evidence."

Lou nodded and took it from her. "Dr. Parks was able to fix the collarbone with a plate and screws, which will be left in permanently unless they cause him any bother. There was some muscle and tendon damage which was repaired, and will require physical therapy, but Dr. Parks is confident that he will regain full mobility."

"Thank god." Chin sighed and Kono started to beam with relief.

"He has a drain in the wound at the moment as it was infected. I've started him on some strong antibiotics to clear it up, and we are hopeful the infection hasn't got into the bone." Dr. Pearce continued, and Steve's stomach flipped. He had a feeling the good news had stopped, and bad news started.

"What happens if the infection is in the bone?"

Dr. Pearce was as honest as she always was with the team, "at the moment Danny is running a fever and dealing with shock, so is rather unwell. If the infection makes it into the bone, we will have an extremely ill Danny on our hands. Osteomyelitis is very difficult to treat."

"Oh no," Kono sobbed as all the team members absorbed what they were being told.

"Guys, I said if it gets into the bone, at the moment we are hopeful that we have avoided it." Dr. Pearce explained. "Now Danny is fairly unwell at the moment, but like I said, he is holding his own. He is being moved to the ICU so we can keep a close eye on him and manage his pain. Now that the shoulder is stabilised it should be much better, but Danny is going to be extremely uncomfortable from the road rash, so we will keep him on strong pain relief."

"Can we see him?" Steve asked, desperate to be reunited with his partner.

"Of course. Just give us some time to get him settled, and the nurse will come and get you."

5-0-5-0-5-0-5-0

It was another hour before they were able to see Danny, during which Steve had been going stir crazy. Finally their friend Dawn, an ICU nurse, emerged and explained that they had just had shift change and she had snagged Danny to take care of through the night, she then showed them to Danny's room.

The team were all relieved to see Danny resting, and he appeared comfortable. His left shoulder was wrapped in heavy bandages and secured in a sling that was fastened to Danny's torso, the mentioned drain attached to his hospital gown. Both forearms were wrapped in dressings, covering the road rash, and the team all guessed that the gown covered the same dressings to Danny's side. Two IV's sneaked out from the dressing on his right arm, connected to what looked like fluids, antibiotics and pain relief.

Leads poked out of the top of his gown and connected to the monitor by his bedside. Steve could see from the numbers on it that Danny's heart rate was elevated, and his blood pressure was too low. A nasal cannula provided their friend with additional oxygen.

Steve moved closer to his friend, while Kono grabbed a chair and placed it by Danny's feet, and forced Chin to sit down. "He looks flushed." Kono pointed out seeing Danny's red cheeks even though the rest of him was deathly pale.

"His fever is sitting around 101 at the moment." Dawn informed them, "I'm going to get some cool water and a wash cloth, let's see if we can bring it down."

The conversation must have roused Danny, because his eyes slowly opened. "Hey, Danny," Steve said moving into his friend's line of vision. "How you feeling?"

"I'm cold." Danny shivered. "Can I have a blanket?"

"Afraid not bud. You actually have a fever, Dawn's just gone to get a wash cloth and bowl of water to try and cool you down. Once your fever is down you should feel warmer."

"Now that doesn't sound very logical. The human body is weird." Danny replied causing everyone to smile at the mini rant. "Please tell me we know who was behind all this."

"Don't worry, Danny. It's all wrapped up and taken care of, now we just have to get you better." Kono said moving closer to him and leaning over and gently placed a kiss on his forehead. "Thank you for saving Chin's life."

"Hey, he had my back too. I'd have never made it down the cliff without him. It took team work." Danny croaked his throat dry, and Steve immediately helped his friend take a drink.

Dawn returned to the room and smiled seeing her patient awake. She rung out the wash cloth and placed it on Danny's forehead, earning herself a frown. "Deal with it Danny. Trust me, you'll feel better as soon as I get your temperature down."

Danny rolled his eyes, he knew better than to argue with Dawn. He also trusted her to do what was best for him, besides he didn't have the energy. He was exhausted, and a combination of the fever and painkillers made him feel fuzzy.

"How's the arm and leg?" Danny asked Chin, eyeing up the crutch and sling.

"They're fine brah, nothing some rest and time won't heal."

Danny smiled with relief then closed his eyes. "Same goes for you, Danny. Don't worry about us, get some rest. You need all your energy to kick this infections ass." Steve insisted.

Danny gave a small nod, but didn't even bother to open his eyes. The short conversation had taken everything from him, a harsh reminder to the team just how ill he was.

Steve let out a long slow breath then turned to the team. "Kono, take Chin home for the night, I don't have to tell you to make sure he rests and takes his meds, rights?"

"Nope, I'm all over it." She smiled, tapping her pocket where the script for antibiotics and painkillers was stored, and she had already looked up 24 hour pharmacies.

"I don't want to go home, I'm fine." Chin insisted.

"Chin, go home with Kono. Lou, go home to your family. I'm gonna stay the night with him and I'm sure Dawn would appreciate some room to move." Steve said looking over at Dawn who was fiddling with Danny's IV and smiled. "I promise I'll call if anything changes."

Reluctantly Lou, Chin, and Kono left for the night leaving Steve behind, who moved to the other side of the bed. He then carefully removed the cloth from Danny's head, rinsed it out in the bowl and replaced it. Then he took the seat beside his partner. Seeing Danny's hand resting inches away, he couldn't help himself and reached over and took hold of his friend's hand, almost wishing he could pass on some of his strength. Danny obviously sensed this and gave Steve's hand a small squeeze, causing him to smile, "I got you Danno, I got ya."

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: time to wrap this one up. Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to wenwalke for her help.**

**Chapter Nine**

Danny awoke to the sound of birds singing, and the smell of coffee wafting into his bedroom. Easing his arm off the supportive pillow, he carefully swung his legs off the bed and sat up, winching as the stitches pulled in his right thigh. He reached over to the bedside table, grabbed his sling and eased his arm into it, placing it over his head he then attempted to wrap it around his body to anchor it in place. Failing miserably with his one good hand he sighed and gave it up as a lost cause.

As he left his bedroom he ran his hand through his unruly hair in an attempt to straighten it. Then he limped down the hallway, wearing just sleep pants and a t-shirt.

Entering the kitchen he wasn't surprised to find Steve busy making breakfast for them both. His friend had insisted on staying with Danny once he was released from the hospital, at least until he was happy Danny was strong enough, and able, to take care of himself.

Steve obviously sensed Danny's arrival as he turned and smiled at his friend, "morning Danno. Breakfast is almost ready," then seeing part of the sling dangling he chastised. "You know that thing has to be fastened properly to support your shoulder."

"Yes, I do know that, Steven. But I can't for the life of me fasten the damn thing." Danny replied attempting to grab the strap and once again failing to pull it around his back.

"Come here." Steve laughed grabbing the strap and securing it in place. "You done your exercises yet?"

"No not yet, I've only just woken up, can I at least have a coffee first?" Danny yawned.

"Did you get much sleep?" Steve asked concerned at the bags under his friend's eyes.

"Yeah some, once I took some more painkillers around 2 am." Danny answered honestly, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

Steve passed Danny a coffee then retrieved his medication. "Here, painkillers and antibiotics."

"Thanks." Danny smiled. Normally Steve's mithering would bug Danny, but he had decided to let his best friend have a few days of fussing and getting his own way, before he blew his top. It was the least he could do after all the support Steve had given him. For three days, and nights, Steve had remained glued to Danny's side in the ICU. Only leaving for a brief bathroom break or when the nurses were taking care of Danny's personal care. Chin had also shown his loyalty and spent every hour of the day by Danny's side too, only going home to sleep. While Lou and Kono had taken care of the paper work and spent as much time at the hospital as possible.

Danny knew it had been a rough three days for his friends, but he barely remembered any of it himself. Left exhausted and confused from the fever, his memory was sketchy. But he had been told how ill he was, and how terrified all his friends had been when his temperature climbed so high he started to seize. Dr. Pearce had been concerned that the infection had spread to the bone and ordered a scan. Finally Danny's fever broke and his vitals picked up. Three more days in a normal room to recover his strength, and complete the course of IV antibiotics, and he had finally been released into Steve's care the night before.

Downing the medication, Danny took a slip of his coffee then placed it back down as Steve brought over a bowl of fruit and yoghurt. Steve then went to the fridge to get the fresh fruit juice. Danny looked at the breakfast, and was grateful for something other than the gloopy porridge, or soggy cereal, he had had for the past week.

Steve poured out two glasses of juice and joined his partner at the breakfast bar, then rolled his eyes as he saw him scratching at the dressing on his side.

"Will you stop scratching? Do you want it to leave scars?" He said while playfully clipping Danny around the head.

"I can't help it. You try being covered in dried out road rash and not scratch it. It itches like hell."

"I could do it." Steve replied smugly then started to eat his breakfast.

"Of course you could. I forgot for a second your Super SEAL. You can compartmentalise the itch." Danny snarked.

Steve ignored the comment, knowing from personal experience just how bad healing road rash could be. "Shut up and eat your breakfast. Then you can have a shower, I'll put your cream on, and re-do your bandages."

"Why thank you nurse McGarrett, whatever would I do without you?" Danny joked.

"You'd still be stuck in hospital 'till you didn't need daily dressing changes any more." Steve replied.

"Good point." Danny said picking up his spoon and diving into his breakfast. His appetite was finally starting to pick up now the infection was under control. Steve just smiled to himself, happy to see Danny on the mend.

After breakfast, Steve was true to his word and helped Danny to remove his t-shirt and dressings, and put on his sling designed for the shower. Then after Danny had washed up Steve applied the cream and dressings to his friend's side and arms. He then helped Danny with his physical therapy.

Once they finished, they moved to the living room where Steve worked on some reports, and Danny watched TV, occasionally looking over Steve's shoulder and correcting mistakes, much to Steve's annoyance. Steve was relieved when the rest of the team arrived at lunch, giving him an excuse to avoid more paperwork.

They sat down to lunch and Chin passed Danny some of Kamekona's famous garlic shrimp, Danny's personal favourite. "How's the shoulder, brah?"

"It was a bitch last night, but not so bad now I'm high on painkillers." Danny smiled. "How was your first day back? I see you lost your sling."

"Yep, feels good now, and this morning was boring. Desk duty sucks, but at least I'll be off it next week." Chin smiled.

"Great, rub it in why don't ya, I'm gonna be stuck on desk duty for weeks." Danny groaned.

"Hey, at least you get to come back, for a while there I thought we both had our days numbered. Besides, think of all the time you will get on the smart table, we'll have you a pro on the thing before you're back in the field."

"You do realise it's only a few weeks of desk duty, not years." Steve said passing around bottles of water.

"Hey." Danny called, fraying hurt.

"Come one, Danny, we all know that technology is not your friend." Lou smirked.

"Fine, but you don't have to be so mean about it." Danny fake sulked, and the others all laughed.

After lunch the others all cleared away while Chin took the opportunity to steer Danny away. "We haven't really had any time together this week."

"Are you kidding, you've been with me almost as much as Steve." Danny said confused.

"I know, but I meant no time alone. I wanted to check how you were doing with everything. If you're ok with everything we discussed on the trail, before everything happened."

Danny smiled, grateful for his friends concern, "you're a good friend Chin. I...err ... I think I'm actually good with everything. I might have some way to go to totally make my peace with what I did, but I'm gonna take your advise and not let it eat me up. I'm good at my job, I love my job. I get to put scumbags like the guys that hunted us down, away. I didn't think twice to take out those guys, because it was them or us. That's what I'm trained to do. What happened with Reyes wasn't so different. It was him or my daughter, my family. I'm gonna be fine Chin."

"That's good to hear." Chin smiled and patted Danny on his good shoulder.

The rest of the team entered the room, and Chin stood and joined Kono and Lou, ready to return to the office.

"Everything ok?" Steve asked his brow furrowed.

'Yeah, it's all good." Danny replied back. "Everything's good. Now you guys get back to work, and you," he said pointing at Steve. "You, need to re do that requisition form, because there is no way the Governor is going to agree to what you have written."

"Maybe you should do it then." Steve suggested.

"Me? Oh no. Not me. I am on sick leave and going for a nap." Danny replied and headed towards his bedroom.

"Good luck with that paperwork, man." Lou said patting Steve on the shoulder.

"I don't need luck I just need to delay finishing the requisition 'till next week when Danny's back on desk duty. Then I'll bury it in with all the other requisitions I plan to send his way." Steve replied with a cocky smile, causing the others to laugh as they headed out of the house.

**THE END**


End file.
